Operators of over-the-road vehicles, such as truck drivers, are often contacted while in transit by a dispatcher at a base station, who has been asked to relay a personal message. The trucking company typically has a private communication system (such as CB, shortwave radio, satellite, or other mobile communication system), so that it can contact the truck driver for company business while the truck is on the road. Relaying personal messages to the truck driver may be a severe burden on the dispatcher, who may receive many such personal messages to relay to many different truckers. Also, the dispatcher at the base station may fail to relay an urgent message to the truck driver or fail to deliver the urgent message on a timely basis. Thus, it is often difficult for someone to get a personal message to the truck driver.
The truck driver typically cannot use the private communication system to reach the party who has sent the personal message. If the message is urgent, such as "call home immediately," the truck driver must search for a pay phone, which may be miles away. Once at the pay phone, the driver often must search for change or a phone card to return the call, and may encounter busy signals or have to leave a message because the person trying to contact the truck driver is not present. These inconveniences result in lost time to the fleet and the truck driver, who is typically trying to reach a destination within a set time period.
The problem with the present system is that there is no way for the truck driver to use the private communication system to contact the other person over the public communication system, without having the dispatcher physically relay the message between the private communication system and the public communication system. Similarly, there is no way for the other person to use the public communication system to contact the truck driver over the private communication system, without again having the dispatcher physically relay the message between the public communication system and the private communication system.